How to stew cabbage correctly, why does it sometimes look unappetizing

How to stew cabbage correctly, why does it sometimes look unappetizing

Stewed cabbage is a separate dish, an excellent side dish and a great filling. It is for all occasions, quite budget, useful, but does not always look attractive and pleases the taste. Why cabbage does not work?

Why cabbage looks unappetizing

No matter how tasty the food is, it should first of all look attractive. Very often from cabbage turns a strange mess. The dish is more like a porridge, dense, consists of heterogeneous lumps.

What are the reasons:

  • Use soft cabbage. Summer varieties are absolutely not suitable for extinguishing. This cabbage is better to use for salads and light soup. It softens in just three minutes, and then becomes limp.
  • Long extinguishing. Also the reason for the slack and unappetizing cabbage may be too long heat treatment.
  • Frequently stirring. You do not need to touch cabbage when stewing, especially soft varieties. Faster, it will not get ready for this, but it will have time to be crushed and broken.
  • Small cuts. Often for shredding housewives use graters and special knives, giving a neat and thin straw. Better not to do this. Also, do not chop the cabbage harvester. The pieces will turn out different sizes, small crumbs spoil the impression of the dish.

In order for the cabbage to retain its shape, and the dish look neat, try to cut it into a not very thin and roughly equal-sized straw. You can make cubes, squares, but because of the structure of the head and different thickness of leaves, similar pieces are not always obtained. Also, not very appetizing cabbage looks without additives. With carrots, onions, tomatoes, the dish will sparkle with new colors.

By the way, very often cabbage looks ugly if it is cooked with potatoes. This vegetable can limp, dissolve in the dish, spoil the look and overall impression.

Why is tough cabbage stew

Sometimes stewed cabbage remains for a long time tough. It may also have several reasons. The main point is insufficient cooking time. It is necessary to cover the dishes, put on a small fire and bring the dish to absolute softness. Usually checked by test or crush. What could be the reasons:

  1. Hard cabbage. Winter varieties that are designed for long-term storage often have a lot of hard fibers. They require a long cooking time, but after it is not always encouraging. If such a head is in your hands, then it is recommended to immediately cut off the hard and dense veins near the stump.
  2. Cabbage was not crushed. If the cabbage itself is harsh, then it is recommended to wrinkle it well with your hands. This is done to reduce the volume. The method is simple: chop a vegetable, you can sprinkle it with salt, but a little, then mix it well with your hands before extracting the juice.
  3. Low fluid. Quenching requires water or juice. It is not always enough in cabbage. As a result, the cooking time is delayed, it turns out a dry and harsh dish. Therefore, it is recommended to pour in some water, broth or other liquid that will release steam.
  4. A lot of acid. Cabbage prepares for a long time and remains tough if you immediately add acidic foods to it. Usually it is tomatoes, tomato paste. It is not recommended to introduce them at the beginning of cooking, it is better to leave finally, preferably fry the tomatoes separately.

In general, it is believed that you need to season the cabbage and other stews in the middle of cooking or near the end, when the ingredients are almost softened.

Cabbage stew color: white, red, brown

Braised white cabbage is always different in appearance, it all depends on the additives used and cooking technology.

What happens cabbage:

  1. White or just a light color. Such a dish was cooked without prior frying; no tomato or other bright vegetables were added to it. Usually such options are used for diet and baby food.
  2. Red cabbage. This is not a variety, but a tomato. It gives rich color and pleasant taste. Add fresh, canned tomatoes, juice or pasta, mashed potatoes.
  3. Brown cabbage. If the dish turned out to be that color, then the cabbage was well fried. Or stewed cabbage is cooked with meat, which is also brought to brown crust.

Do not forget that spices and other additives, such as soy sauce, influence the appearance. With him, all the brighter: the taste and color.

Cookware for extinguishing

The taste and appearance of cabbage is also affected by the dishes. The dish turns out with "boiled" taste if the usual pan is used. Much better is obtained in the pan.

The most intense and fragrant cabbage stew comes out in a cauldron, stew-pan, cast-iron duck.

By the way, you can fry vegetables, fold, cover and put in the oven. It will be an incredibly aromatic dish.

A good cabbage is obtained in a slow cooker, but after pre-frying vegetables and meat. If you simply put all the products in the bowl, cover and put on the appropriate mode, the dish will not please the taste and aroma.

Why is cabbage not tasty?

The taste of the dish depends largely on the ingredients themselves. It happens that cabbage is bitter, has an unpleasant smell, traces of mold. In this case, do not use it for meals. But if the head just wilted, lost juiciness, then this is not an obstacle, it can be extinguished by adding a little more water.

What else affects the taste:

  1. Pre-frying. If the cabbage is lightly fried in a frying pan, you can not even bring it to a rosy color, the taste will noticeably improve.
  2. Other ingredients. Braised cabbage is much tastier with the addition of meat, mushrooms, various vegetables. But sometimes they also require additional roasting, often this is done separately, and then combined with cabbage.
  3. Spices and flavorings. Where do without them? In addition to salt, you can add to the cabbage all kinds of peppers, herbs, garlic, mixed seasonings, adjika, mustard.

To prevent cabbage from turning fresh, tomatoes are added to it. But tomatoes do not always produce enough acid. It is easy to fix with lemon juice. Apple cider vinegar is also sometimes introduced. If the dish is too sour, which is also not always good, you can pour a little sugar in the cabbage stew.

Comments (0)
Popular articles
Search